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Sanderson And Huffman's Theory Of Psychological Conditioning

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To best understand the theory discussed in this paper it is important to understand the psychological concepts behind it. Foremost, being the concepts of operant and classical conditioning (CC), which stem from learning and behavioral psychology. CC is most likely the simplest form of psychological conditioning. Whereas operant conditioning (OC) is a bit more complex. Studies show that CC, however, can be used to support the theory presented on how psychological conditioning can lead to addictive behaviors. Not to mention, how these same methods can be used to combat addiction. There is plenty of evidence of previous experiments and observations that have to do with classical conditioning and how it relates to addiction. The focus of this theory …show more content…

Classical conditioning is learning that is developed by a neutral stimulus (NS) paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US) to create a conditioned response (CR). Meaning: that the observer will take something ordinary that does not affect the observed subject and pair it with something that does affect the observed subject. And then repeat the process of pairing these two things until the subject being observed formulates a reaction. This idea originated from a Russian psychologist by the name of Ivan Pavlov (1849-1946). He formulated a test with dogs, where he rang a bell every time he fed them. He noticed that the dogs originally salivated at the sight of their food dish. But after repeatedly ringing a bell before he fed them, he noticed that the sound of the bell itself made them salivate. Because the dogs had associated the ringing of the bell with being fed, when they heard the bell they would immediately start to salivate. In this case the ringing of the bell would be the neutral stimulus (NS), the food would be the unconditioned stimulus (US), and the dogs salivating would be the conditioned response (CR). This test became known as Pavlov’s Dogs, and it is what is most commonly associated with classical

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